Hating You, Loving You (Inked Hearts 4)

I tap my nose three times.

"Sure." He motions after you. "I lead until the signal."

"Don't mock the signal."

"I wouldn't dare." He follows me into the hallway.

My fingers skim the railing as I move downstairs. My feet are still wet. My footsteps are slippery.

"Hey, Dad." I step into the living room. "What are you doing home?" I cross my arms reflexively. Is there really a better time to be defensive?

"Meeting finished early." His gaze shifts to Dean. "I guess I don't have to ask what you're doing here."

My cheeks flush. "We were in the neighborhood. For the test."

"Oh." Dad looks to Dean. "It's that serious?"

"Yeah." Dean steps into the living room. Runs his fingers through my wet hair. "Can I be honest?"

Dad laughs. "I should hope you're always honest."

Dean nods true. "I adore your daughter."

Dad's gaze flits from me to Dean then back to me. "And you, Chloe?"

"And I…?" Why is he being so cool about this? He just caught us in the act. After the act. Close enough.

"He's asking if you like me or if you're only in this for my body." Dean slides his arm around my waist. "No one would blame you for the latter."

"No. I like you a lot too." My cheeks flush. "Is this the time for this conversation?"

"I figured you'd have that worked out by now." Dad moves into the kitchen and grabs the coffee from a high shelf. "But Chloe has always been particular."

"I am not particular." My voice breaks into a teenage whine. "I just have high standards."

"Pretty sure that's another way of saying particular," Dean says.

"Maybe we should get out of your hair," I offer. "Traffic shouldn't be too bad yet."

"No. Stay for dinner." Dad smiles at Dean. "Unless you have plans."

"Can't think of anything I'd rather do," Dean says.

Dad beams. "I'll call Gia."

God help me.

Gia twirls her fork, scooping strands of pasta. "So, Dean… what have you been doing since high school?"

Dean looks to me and raises a brow. What's she getting at?

I'm not really sure. Dad skipped the thorough grilling in favor of coffee (tea for us) and conversations about action movies. He gave us space to make dinner while he and Gia collaborated on the best way to torture us.

My older sister loves torturing me.

But then she's protective too.

I don't know if she's teasing me or calling Dean out.